Dominica – Portsmouth

Portsmouth is definitely the place to be if you are on a boat. It is the most friendly and welcoming place with everyone working hard to ensure that our stay in the bay is pleasant.The bay is very scenic and the small town has a laid back feel which is nice. Again all the local are extremely welcoming. The fresh fruit and veg market is well stocked and we have seen some beauties at the fish market…Mahi-Mahi that big!!

We also met some old and new friends here which is always nice and the hiking boots have been taken for an airing or more accurately a muddying…they don’t call it the rain forest for nothing!And whilst on the subject of shoes, Ian dropped his in the water by the dingy dock, before the party would you believe, 2 attempts to find it in barely 2 metres of water were unsuccessful… I guess Dominic

Dominica – Roseau

We arrived safely in Dominica. What a contrast, it really feels like we are back into the Caribbean. The island from the sea is just a jagged mass of green and luxurious peaks and deep valleys. A few villages dotted around but nothing as developed as in Martinique. Looking forward to explore it. The Doyle’s guide waxes lyrical about its wonders and we will definitely try to make the most of them… with 9 volcanoes, endless waterfalls, hot springs and a boiling lake, there is plenty to see. And that is before we start speaking about an extraordinary number of birds and flowers.Mind you given the steepness of the mountains around us,  not for the fainthearted. Going to be tough. Guess I better find my hiking boots!

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Stuck in St Pierre – Martinique

We have been pinned down for 5 days in St Pierre, Martinique. The weather forecast was for moderately strong winds when we left Fort de France on the 7th March so we decided to move up to St Pierre 10 miles further  up the coast, ready for the crossing to Dominica next day. The anchorage was very busy and we probably had one of the worse night with winds howling relentlessly. The next morning forecast was not much better, but we thought we would tempt crossing the channel. We had watched boats going up and we were prepared for a rough crossing but when we reached the top of Martinique the sea rally worsened. By this stage we had been soaked and buffeted by the wind for 2 hours. We had watched a boat going full speed ahead and noticed that they seemed to come back our way. It turned out to be  Pepper (Hattie & Phil)  and they emphatically suggested that this was no time to be out there with gusts up to 35 knots and waves of 3 metres, They had crossed the Atlantic 2 handed so were no scaredy cats and I was quite relieved that we followed them in and retraced our steps back to St Pierre. The weather was bad  for 4 days, it rained and rained and rained all day. But we made the most of it, more exploring….

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Leaving Martinique

This has been our view for the last 10 days….watching the clouds and the rain come and go over the hills surrounding Fort de France has been our daily occupation.

It will be hard but after over 5 weeks in Martinique, we have had a lot of fun here, carnival galore and good food…we now need to move on. Ian’s wounds are now healed, no more excuses.

We will be setting sail tomorrow morning. If the wind is favourable, we should be landing in Dominica in the afternoon.

Not sure how we are going to cope without French bread every day!

Sunday Carnival Fort de France

Ready to join Carnaval in Martinique. Went for the traditional Doudou look… knew my Senegalese outfit would come handy. Raised a few smiles and waves from our fellow boaties across the anchorage. Not often you see a Doudou rowing ashore! We had a brilliant day and night. Only need to sort the trillion pictures!

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Carnivals in Fort de France

 5 days worth of Carnival parades and festivities started on Saturday with the Queens outing. Cute young girls in fantastic costumes wilting in the hot sunshine.

The main event is Sunday but right until Wednesday we will be treated to various themes events. Particularly looking forward to the “marriage burlesque” and “diables rouges” days. And yes we will make an effort to blend in the crowd!

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View from my hammock

A few days rest after the whirlwind visit of Carole & family.

Somewhat forced rest as Ian has some infected wounds on his leg which necessitated a visit to  the doctor,  the nurse  and the pharmacy. He has even managed to convince the nurse that he can and will do his own injections…which he duly does every day, much to his delight. So we are taking it easy at the Pointe du Bout, waiting for him to heal.

The hammocks are put to good use on the pretty beaches by the bay. Hopefully we should be on the move within the next few days. We need to go to Le Marin (south of Martinique) to check up the chandlers and I really want to visit St Pierre before we leave for Dominica.

Martinique is really beautiful and so easy going, it feels really relaxed and safe. A little bit of France in the Caribbean sea.

The Garagnani family joined us in Martinique

That was an unexpected pleasure meeting  up with the Garagnani family in Martinique. As per usual all last minute arrangements but it did work beautifully. Carole not so keen to spend 10 days on Mr X had rented a villa in the hill of the Anse a l’Ane, complete with swimming pool and a view to die for. We could even see Mr X in the bay down below, well, the top of its mast anyway.

We had a fabulous time touring the island and finding the best beaches. Finally managed to set up the hammocks and it did feel like a real holiday. The last 2 days sailing were fun too, I think they enjoyed the snorkelling from the boat.

Highlights: lazing around in the hammock on the atmospheric Atlantic beaches, walking up the waterfall in Ajoupa Bouillon, drive up the mountains in the clouds….and plenty of good food (in and out) and excellent company….without forgetting hot showers and a brand new camera!

Bye bye Prickly Bay – Grenada

Sue & Ian have now gone home and we had a few days rest in Prickly Bay.  Beautiful island, despite the very unsettled weather. Highlight, walking to the top of Mt Qua Qua, with Anne  & Roy (Serenity) in pouring rain… the views were fantastic for 5 mn when the rain stopped. Managed to fit in a haircut too, thanks to Lynn (Christine), she did a brilliant job on both of us. And thanks to Peter for watching out for us on “that evening”!

Time to wind our way back up North, toward Martinique where we we will be catching up with the Garagnani. We’ll be stopping to most of the islands we missed on the way down.